if you have any doubt that I’m a sick, sick individual, I’ll mention
that we also listened to Varèse’s Arcana, which follows on that
particular recording. He actually didn’t mind it, which I think is
great.

Even though I'm considerably older than three, I greatly enjoy these works as well (ok, except for the Prokofiev and Stravinsky). And when I was three, I was probably listening to Victory at Sea although the Batman theme, Beethoven, and the Beatles were on the horizon and Petula Clark was soon to be my first exposure to the "downtown" scene.

I'm listening to Arcana by Edgard Varèse. I like noise, er, organized sound as much as the next person but as orchestral music, this is not it. Is there some mystical or organic meaning I am missing? Anyway, here are some other points of view...

Arcana (1927) is a music of sound, which determines structure through repetition and contrasts of rhythm and timbre, developing without any pre-imposed plan... But give your ears a break and don't play the CD straight through.